Armored Trooper Votoms Vol. #02

What They SayA moment ago, Armored Trooper pilot Chirico Cuvie was Battling champion; now he is the captive of the Secret Society that almost murdered him in the illegal raid on Asteroid Lido.

But Chirico has an ace up his sleeve - he's got allies on the outside who are just greedy enough to want him back in the Battling games. He's going to need their help if he's got a prayer of escaping and locating the mysterious Phantom Lady, the one person who can help him find the truth behind the conspiracy that put him in this mess.

Narrowly evading one trap after another, Chirico is prepares to turn the tables on his enemies. Having siezed control of the Uoodo City police, they are preparing to move a priceless treasure. Chirico and his companions will launch a raid to hijack it and change the balance of power--if they survive,that is!

It’s time for another foray into the gritty world of Armored Trooper Votoms. The story progresses along at a pretty good pace. But some of the realistic feel of the series begins to fade a bit. Luckily it’s still a pretty entertaining series. Let’s take a look at this installment.

-Technical Review-

The technical ratings stay the same. The sound and picture both looked very good, especially considering the age of the series. The menu reacts quickly and has a cool mecha style to it. The presentation goes down a level because of something I forgot to mention in my previous review. The subs are hard matted onto the screen. So you can’t get rid of them and watch this raw. I know for some people that is a real issue, and I had several astute readers remind me to mention it. The keepcase tells you everything except for running time and that it’s in Japanese with subs. The extras include a Gallery of stills and production art (the same from the first disc). You also get some introductions to characters, mecha, vehicles, and weapons. These are comprised of text and design sketches. The last element called the "World Guide" shows a diagram of the Uoodo City, and gives you an in-depth history of the city and shows you where many of the key locations of the series take place. As usual you might want to watch the whole disc before you do any reading, as some spoilers to episodes are given away in these extras.

-Content Review-

In this disc we find Chirico captured by the Uoodo police after his recent mecha battle. The police chief (who was in on the scheme in the first episode... you know the attack on Lido asteroid) is convinced that Chirico has been sent here to on a mission because of that incident. Meanwhile Gotho and Vanilla (with a little help from Cocona) launch a rescue attempt. But after they spring Chirico, what then? Simple Vanilla has a huge heist he wants to pull. But Chirico won’t do it. So Gotho, Cocona and Vanilla decide to do it on their own. Well it turns out that Chirico ends up in the same place as his "friends" and all hell breaks loose. Chirico runs into the floating, naked, bald lady again... but she isn’t floating or bald anymore. Chirico tries to contact her but instead the whole Uoodo police force attacks. The final episode has Chirico and his gang attempting a hijacking job. It’s risky because not only is the truck heavily guarded, but a nasty biker gang going after it as well. Why does Chirico suddenly want to turn to a life a crime? Well I think the motive might be the Phantom Lady... but we’ll see in the next disc.

The animation style stays the same. I think the settings were a bit better planned out in these episodes. You got a pretty good sense of place, but that is very important if you are going to do some action scenes. Other than that, the gritty feel is still here. I’ll be interested to see if the animation improves in the next story arc. The sound also keeps its same grade. You’ve got a mix of standard anime effects and some very good work when the mechas are wandering around.

The plot got a bit weaker in this set of episodes and mostly because things were happening a bit too conveniently. That middle episode is the worst of the offenders. Chirico just happens to end up at the same facility that his pals are going to rob. It makes sense, but it also is just a bit too perfect. The plot is moving pretty quickly, but it’s getting a bit cliche here and there. The one thing I’m trying to keep in mind is that this is probably one of the creators of those mecha show cliches, so it wouldn’t be same ol’, same ol’ for the audience watching it when it first aired. The overall thrust of the story remains interesting, and I’m willing to see more.

The Japanese acting got the same score we had before. The music was also the same. Sometimes it fits the scenes pretty well, and some times it’s just too much. I do like the opening and ending themes though. They are both good in a cheesy nostalgic kinda way.

With three episodes on this disc, things went as I expected them too. I was a little disappointed in some of the story developments but all in all the entertainment rating stayed the same. This is good series with a more realistic edge to it. You can easily see many similarities between Votoms and Gasaraki. But this is a bit rougher, obviously an earlier work. I’m anxious to see just where the plot takes us... but there have been some hints at to what the Phantom Lady really is. I want to see if my suspicions are correct.